I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,and he turned to me and heard my cry.2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair,out of the mud and the mire.He set my feet on solid groundand steadied me as I walked along.3 He has given me a new song to sing,a hymn of praise to our God.Many will see what he has done and be amazed.They will put their trust in the Lord.

Psalms 40:1-3, NLT

Psalm 40 is jam packed with good things. It is a rich repository for the Christian— an arsenal for the believer. We do well when we draw from it; that is what it’s there for. It has been designed to equip us.

V. 1, I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,and he turned to me and heard my cry.

Waiting is a needful strategy. It should not be regarded as perfunctory or trivial, as it’s a necessary place. In our daily walk we must be patiently seeking the Lord. Admitting you need help is the first step. The word for ‘wait’ is kawvah in Hebrew. It can mean ‘to bind together by twisting.’ It can be used with the idea of braiding strands of rope together. It is not a passive act. Waiting on God should be full of deliberate purpose.

Remember that the Lord is not a distant deity on a hill far away. He is closer to you than you think. He is responsive and aware. He hears our cries; He is not deaf, but patience is critical. Waiting on Him is crucial.

V. 2, He lifted me out of the pit of despair,out of the mud and the mire.He set my feet on solid groundand steadied me as I walked along.

The terrain can be awful. There are muddy paths and mucky pits. Things that pull you down and trap the traveller. But the Father is engaged in helping out, by lifting up and securing us on solid ground. (He is more willing to save, than we are to being saved.)

Solid ground is where we are meant to be. It is a place of firm standing and secure positioning. He makes us steady and keeps us safe. The Holy Spirit has care over your soul.

V.3, He has given me a new song to sing,a hymn of praise to our God.Many will see what he has done and be amazed.They will put their trust in the Lord.

Some of the greatest songs are the ones that come from those just delivered from the pit. These ‘pit songs’ are offered to God from sincere and true hearts. There is a solid relevance heard from the spirits of those redeemed from disaster.

“You can see God from anywhere if your mind is set to love and obey Him.”

A.W. Tozer

From our pits comes our praise. There is a passionate quality that saturates pit praises that is valued by God, and esteemed by the Church— a sense of authenticity proceeds. We can see our pits become ‘launching pads’ of true songs of deliverance.

But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”

Matthew 15:23, NLT

This is exceptional. Jesus is always engaging people around him. He teaches and preaches, fully energized by the Holy Spirit. He is a veritable hurricane of goodness and love. He heard every request, and healed every disease. But yet. On this occasion he is completely silent.

The woman’s piteous crying, and begging was seemingly ignored. “If Jesus won’t respond to me, I will go to his followers.” She presses, and cajoles. She falls on her knees. Have you ever seen a person truly beg? It is a very disconcerting experience. Yet, Jesus does nothing, in spite of being able to do all things.

She is a Canaanite; a pagan widow, and her daughter was demonized. Curiously, there was a large heathen temple to Eshmun, the Canaanite god of healing, was just three miles down the road. But her desperate cry was for something real. Something authentic and real that would heal her daughter’s affliction. Only Jesus has what she needs.

Jesus is astonishingly silent. He stands and sees, he hears her cries. She is sobbing, clutching at the disciples robes, disheveled and distressed. It was a desperate scene. Very ugly and very sad.

Jesus responds to his disciple’s plea. Then there is something that seems like a negotiation. A protracted conversation with a ‘seemingly’ reluctant Messiah. It is somewhat disturbing as we listen. Jesus seems to treat her callously. I have always been mystified by this, troubled by his behavior. I can only conclude that what he did was necessary in some way.

But the Son of God sees through this.

And then she makes an incredible statement. Jesus is suddenly amazed at her faith in him. This faith is what he has been waiting to see. She may have known despair, but that isn’t enough. Jesus leads her from the edge. Until she moved to a position of belief, nothing will change. Faith seems to change everything. This is key. It isn’t her words that alters things– it is her heart! At that moment, Jesus declares a healing for her daughter. She is now free from the demon’s grip.

So often I have also felt the pressure from the darkness. I am often embattled and driven into a despair that seems to cripple me. But Jesus is waiting for me, to come to him through an unflinching faith. My good works can never, ever be enough. I’m just like a dog, waiting for food under the table. I have little, if any, decorum or sophistication. There is nothing at all, to commend me to him. Nothing at all.

“Our Lord sometimes yet seems to be silent to His people when they cry to Him. To all their earnest supplications He answers not a word. Is His silence a refusal? By no means. Ofttimes, at least, it is meant only to make the suppliants more earnest, and to prepare their hearts to receive richer and greater blessings. So when Christ is silent to our prayers, it is that we may be brought down in deeper humility at His feet, and that our hearts may be made more fit to receive heaven’s gifts and blessings.”

I have gained much from reading Spurgeon over the years. I read this this morning, and I could hear the Holy Spirit speaking into my soul. I need more of this “peaceful perseverance” working in me.

“Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.”

Genesis 49:19, KJV

(“Gad will be attacked by marauding bands, but he will attack them when they retreat.”)

NLT

Some of us have been like the tribe of Gad. Our adversaries for a while were too many for us; they came upon us like a troop. Yes, and for the moment they overcame us; and they exulted greatly because of their temporary victory. Thus they only proved the first part of the family heritage to be really ours, for Christ’s people, like Dan, shall have a troop overcoming them.

This being overcome is very painful, and we should have despaired if we had not by faith believed the second line of our father’s benediction, “He shall overcome at the last.” “All’s well that ends well,” said the world’s poet; and he spoke the truth. A war is to be judged, not by first success or defeats, but by that which happens “at the last.” The Lord will give to truth and righteousness victory “at the last”; and, as Mr. Bunyan says, that means forever, for nothing can come after the last.

What we need is patient perseverance in well-doing, calm confidence in our glorious Captain. Christ, our Lord Jesus, would teach us His holy art of setting the face like a flint to go through with work or suffering till we can say, “It is finished.” Hallelujah. Victory! Victory! We believe the promise.“He shall overcome at the last.”

6 “The Lord your God will change your heartand the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!”

Deuteronomy 30:6, NLT

8 “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

2 Corinthian 3:18, NLT

Geologists tell us that a lump of coal can be transformed into a diamond. It is not an easy process, and there is little economic value. But it can be done, but with much effort and time. This involves tremendous heat, and incredible pressure.

Something is happening to us and we are being transformed. This is part of God’s plan for us. This takes action on His part, it is a special work of His Holy Spirit. Slowly, bu very surely, “we are becoming.”

Becoming is not an easy process.It is not a skill to be mastered but a new life to be lived. We are called to deny ourselves and bear our cross and follow Him every day. His Spirit comes along side and encourages us to believe God is changing us. We are slowly becoming like Jesus. We are growing “more and more like him.”

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Philippians 1:6

We should conclude that God is surely working on us until Jesus returns, or we die. If you are a believer, you can have faith that His work is ongoing. It may seem delayed, or stalled but be assured that you’re His special project and He is not going to give up on you.

Follow via email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 902 other followers

In The Attic

Bryan Lowe, Blog Overseer

a.k.a. "The Chief of Sinners"

I truly love Jesus, who saved me from self destruction. I am His, and had enough of lesser things. I still have many deep issues, but these only enhance His love for me. I serve Him best, when I serve my brothers and sisters. I love His Church.

This Was Your Life

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

My Other Blog– CrossQuotes.org: Cross Quotes

Candlelighter Award

Get Your Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 902 other followers

Questions that are Asked

Copywrites

Everything shared on this web site and in any post of Brokenbelievers is the rightful property of respectful owners and/artists. Brokenbelievers.com is a not for profit ministry and makes no claims on art displayed. This ministry exists for spiritual purposes only.